Energy and environmental research emphasizing low-rank coal: Task 5.7, Coal char fuel evaporation canister sorbent

摘要

Automobile evaporative emission canisters contain activated carbon sorbents that trap and store fuel vapors emitted from automobile fuel tanks during periods of hot ambient temperatures and after engine operation. The two primary requirements of an effective canister sorbent are that (1) it must be a strong enough adsorbent to hold on to the fuel vapors that contact it and (2) it must be a weak enough adsorbent to release the captured vapors in the presence of the airflow required by the engine for fuel combustion. The objectives of Task 5.7 were to (1) design and construct a test system for evaluating the performance of different sorbents in trapping and releasing butane, gasoline, and other organic vapors; (2) investigate the use of lignite char as an automobile fuel evaporation canister sorbent; (3) compare the adsorbing and desorbing characteristics of lignite chars with those of several commercial sorbents; and (4) investigate whether the presence of ethanol in fuel vapors affects sorbent performance in any way.